Read-Only Agent Access Checklist for a Simple To-Do List App

An AI agent can help summarize your tasks, spot upcoming due dates, or prepare a daily plan. To get that help without letting the agent change your list, start with read-only access. A simple to-do list app can provide a useful shared view of tasks, but the permission setup matters: “read-only” should describe the access granted by the service, not just an instruction in your prompt.

Use this checklist before connecting an agent through MCP or another supported integration. It covers what to confirm, what to test, and what read-only access cannot protect on its own.

What read-only access should mean

Read-only access is a permission that allows an authorized client to retrieve information while preventing it from making changes through that authorization. Depending on the task app, readable information may include task names, notes, dates, priorities, completion status, or list names. Check the service’s documentation to learn exactly what is exposed.

Read-only access is different from asking an agent to “look, but don’t touch.” A prompt expresses your preference; a permission limits the operations the connection is allowed to perform. Good security uses both: grant the least access needed, then clearly state the task you want the agent to perform.

Read-only agent access checklist

1. Confirm the integration is supported. Use the task app’s official connection instructions for your MCP client. Do not rely on guessed server addresses, undocumented endpoints, or instructions from an unrelated integration.
2. Choose the read-only permission. During authorization or token creation, select a clearly labeled Read Only option if one is available. Do not select Read & Write just to make the connection work unless you have a specific, necessary reason to allow changes.
3. Check the scope of the permission. Find out whether the authorization applies to your whole account or is limited in another documented way. A parameter that filters results to one list can help organize what the agent sees, but a list_id filter is not an authorization boundary. Do not treat it as a substitute for access control.
4. Review which data the agent can read. Consider task titles, notes, due dates, priorities, and completion status. Remove sensitive details that the connected agent does not need to see, especially from notes or task names.
5. Create a separate credential for the connection. If the service supports individual, revocable tokens, use a dedicated token rather than sharing your account password or reusing a credential intended for another integration.
6. Store the credential safely. Follow the client’s documented secret-storage guidance. Avoid putting a token in a task description, prompt, shared document, screenshot, or source-controlled file. Treat it like a password.
7. Test with a harmless request. Ask the agent to summarize a small number of tasks or report upcoming due dates. Check that the response matches the data you expect it to read.
8. Check that changes are blocked. Where the documented setup allows safe verification, confirm that write operations are unavailable or denied. Do not test by risking important task data. If you cannot verify the permission behavior, consult the service documentation or support before relying on it.
9. Know how to revoke access. Before using the connection regularly, locate the control for revoking or deleting its token. Revoke it if the client is no longer needed or the credential may have been exposed.
10. Review access over time. Revisit connected clients and active credentials periodically. Remove access that is no longer useful, and check permission settings before reconnecting after a configuration change.

Apply the checklist to a real planning task

Imagine you want an agent to prepare a morning briefing from your simple to-do list app. Your list contains work tasks with priorities and due dates, plus personal errands and notes. You want a summary, not automatic edits.

First, confirm that the task app supports the MCP client you plan to use and follow its official setup guide. Create a separate credential with Read Only permission. Before authorizing the connection, check whether that permission covers your account or has a narrower documented scope. If it is account-scoped, assume the agent may be able to read information across the account; do not assume a list filter makes other lists inaccessible.

Next, consider whether every note belongs in the connected account. A note such as “bring the signed form” may be appropriate for an agent to read, while private information in a task note may not be. Remove or relocate information you do not want exposed to the connected service. Then ask for a limited summary, such as: “List the tasks due today and tomorrow, grouped by priority. Do not create, edit, complete, or delete tasks.”

Compare the result with the app. If it includes an unexpected list or sensitive note, stop and review the account scope and data you have stored. If the agent proposes changes, treat those as recommendations to review yourself. A read-only connection should not be able to apply them, but the exact behavior depends on the service’s documented permission model and the connected client.

This example keeps the agent’s job clear: read relevant task information and report it. It does not make the list filter a security barrier, and it does not confuse a natural-language instruction with a technical permission.

What read-only access does not guarantee

Read-only access limits what the authorized connection can do to the task system. It does not automatically limit what the agent can learn from the data it can read, how the agent processes that data, or what information may be included in its response. Those questions depend on the connected service, client, and their applicable settings and policies.

It also does not protect information that you paste into a chat yourself, secure a compromised device, or make an account-wide permission behave like per-list access. If you need the agent to see only selected tasks, check whether the service documents an actual access-control feature for that purpose. If it does not, filtering results should be understood as convenience, not isolation.

Finally, a read-only token is not a reason to ignore credential security. Someone who obtains a valid token may be able to use the access it grants. Keep the credential private, use a separate token where supported, and know how to revoke it.

Make daily planning useful without granting edit access

Read-only agents can still support a practical daily planning routine. For example, have an agent identify overdue tasks, group today’s work by priority, or summarize tasks with approaching due dates. You can then decide which items to move, complete, or delegate in the app yourself.

Give the agent a focused request and specify the time window or fields you care about. “Summarize high-priority tasks due this week” is more useful than “Tell me everything.” Keep final decisions and edits under your control unless you have deliberately reviewed a separate write-enabled workflow. This approach can make task delegation more structured while preserving a clear human approval step.

If your app supports both Read Only and Read & Write credentials, choose the one that matches the work. For summaries and planning advice, read-only is usually the appropriate starting point. Write access is a separate decision: understand its scope, grant it only when needed, and avoid treating it as a shortcut around reviewing the agent’s proposed changes.

A final review before connecting

• Is the MCP client and connection method officially documented?
• Did you choose Read Only rather than Read & Write?
• Do you understand whether the permission is account-scoped?
• Have you avoided treating a list filter as an access boundary?
• Have you checked task titles and notes for sensitive information?
• Can you protect and revoke the separate credential?
• Have you tested a read request without risking important data?

A simple to-do list app works best as a shared source of truth when people understand what an agent can see and what it can change. Before connecting an MCP client, review the permission model and token guidance for the specific service. For example, TaskPort’s agent permission documentation explains its Read Only and Read & Write options and helps clarify the scope to review before granting access.